cheer for the weekend!

You guys, we did it! We made it through our first week back at work since the break, not that I really had a break but you know what I  mean. Friday is here, hallelujah.

First up for this fine fine day...so far in my year goals I've excelled at eating healthier. and I went to the gym once! I know one isn't a lot, but it is one more time than I've gone in the previous 6 months so in my case it is a win. There were plans to go more times but unfortunately work/life got in the way. Next week my goal is to go again, at least once aiming for twice. We can do this!

Second- this weekend is my sister's baby sprinkle! Nephew #2 is close to arriving so instead of a full-blown shower we are having a sprinkle. Excited to share some more details of the party planning and pictures next week!(which I can't really take much credit for except for helping pay for it- all the planning is on my crafty sister)

Third-right now it is SNOWING! a legit snow, not a little dusting of fluff but snow. I love snow, I love how it looks, I love how it feels, I love how quiet it can be.

Fourth... I have a week off in February and I'm so torn about what to do with it. Do I sit around all week enjoying the not working, do I visit family in Florida, do I try and take a vacation somewhere else?? Too many choices!!

I mean I could totally go for one of these again...

and fifth... can I just give a holla out to eBates again? Seriously this site is rocking my world. I do a bulk of my shopping online and just about every store I shop out is on there, so my normal every month purchases are now getting me money back. As of now I'm expecting a 60+ return for February. Living the dream!

Happy Friday!

 

Costa Rica

Over the holidays I went to Costa Rica with the family I work for- we went for about two weeks to a region called Guanacaste. Unfortunately I dropped and shattered my phone the day we left so I was unable to take but few pictures (my phone had a mind of it's own) but I can give you some details on where we stayed, my experience with the hotel and surrounding area.

We flew into the Liberia Airport in Costa Rica and drove about an hour and fifteen to the JW Marriott Resort on the Hacienda Pinilla, which is kind of a gated community. We stayed at a similar one last year when we stayed at the Four Seasons resort.

The Marriott was very nice, we had three rooms- one of which I shared with the kids. The beds were comfy and the curtains fully blacked out the windows at night, something I fully appreciated.

I thought on the best things about this hotel was the pool. The pool was a snake shape so that every chair was poolside. There were no rows of chairs layering back, no walk to put your feet into the water, every chair had access to the pool. The beach at the Marriott was also super nice. During low-tide the beach was very wide and with a large number of rocks at the bottom that created really cool tide pools. The kids and I spent hours everyday exploring these pools, searching for shells, fish, crabs and other goodies. Throughout our stay we saw a sting-ray, an octopus, a puffer-fish, an endless amount of hermit crabs, crabs, and multiple kinds of fish. The swim area of the beach was large enough that multiple families could enjoy it at once but wasn't too intense with the current. Overall a
great beach.

picture courtesy of the JW Marriott site

The thing is about this trip is that we stayed on the property almost the entire time. The hotel boasts six restaurants. An Asian-fushion dinner spot, a delicious steak house, an all day lounge with sushi and pizza, a buffet bar, and a pool-grill that turns into an Italian restaurant at night. All good, but a bit repetitive after 14 days. We did go into the nearby town one evening, the hotel offered a shuttle and it took about 30 minutes to reach the town. It was filled with restaurants and cheesy gift shops. And while it was nice to get out, it was very hard to make the trek with two children who were used to going to sleep at 8:30. If I had been there with my own family or friends I expect we would have gone more often.

The Marriott has a nice spa on their property- something I took full-advantage of, although I did find it be be a bit over priced. I had an amazing massage but could have received the same service at a different hotel or here at home for half of the cost. It was worth it at the time but I wouldn't go back there to do the same thing.

One thing I found very interesting is the wildlife we saw, or didn't see... last year we stayed at the Four Seasons resort, about an hour and half north of where we were this year. There (at the Four Seasons) we saw monkeys, iguanas, white-nose Coatis, all sorts of birds, bugs and crabs almost everyday. At the Marriott we saw almost nothing. Besides the things we saw in the water I think I viewed a handful of lizards and some birds. Well we did see a lot of cows and horses on the drive to and from the airport but I'm not sure if that counts.

Overall it was a nice hotel, and with the families government discount they received a fantastic deal ($147/night). There are direct flights to Liberia which can also be helpful and I would recommend it as a place to stay but not for as long as we did. Maybe a 5-6 day trip, and not a two week one.

And that's that!

Favorite Photo I've Posted on Instagram

Narrow down a posting to just one? Basically impossible- fact is I don't even post if I don't love it!! So I'm actually going to give you my top 5, and know that even this was a hard task to do..

Sunset in Spain- August 2013 Artwork in Panama- December 2013   Sleepy Sunday with my favorite cuddlebug
5 Year Reunion Group Butterbeer in Hogsmeade- enough said

I see London, I see France

Bonjour! Thankfully we made it to Paris without any shenanigans OR lost luggage. Our flight was on time, our driver was there at the pick-up and not at a ridiculous hour.

I found Paris to be an interesting place- a huge, sprawling city with so many famous and well known pieces of art and landmarks. After getting in we had dinner at our hotel and went to bed to start exploring bright and early the next day.

Perks of our Parisian hotel- the breakfast was ah-mazing! Fresh orange juice, warm croissants, coffee to die for. Cons- the hotel room I was in with the kids was oh so itty-bitty. We barely fit a crib in it plus we had our 4 massive suitcases, 5 backpacks, 2 lunch boxes and the car seats. Needless to say we didn't spend much time in there, and as a heads-up when traveling with children it wouldn't hurt to find out how big the rooms actually are.

Day 1: The morning of our first day we hit up the most traditional landmark of all- the Eiffel Tower. Big J has been reading this Magic Tree House book about Paris and the Eiffel Tower for months- literally. He spouted out a good chunk of facts for us and was probably the most excited to see it. We did have to wait in line to buy elevator tickets to the top- but only about 20 mins. Not too bad. Unfortunately we picked a bit of a dreary day to visit the place, the weather was a bit overcast and slightly rainy. Nevertheless the view was wonderful and it was so nice to actually be there.

first view!

from the bottom

We took the elevator to the tippy top and got to experience our first look at the city in the daylight. It was a nice way to start the trip to get a better feel of the city's layout, famous landmarks and more!

our hotel was right behind this structure

at the top with Little J!

Overall Eiffel Tower was a win! Not sure why anyone would be disappointed with it but I guess there have been stranger things in life..

After we ate lunch nearby- I took a 20/30 min walk over to the Musee d'Orsay. The Orsay is a more recent addition to the Paris scene. The museum opened in 1986 and is a former train station. It holds mostly french art created and dated between 1845-1915. It also houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces. This means Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Seurat, Cezanne and more.

view from the top- prob wasn't supposed to take this, whoops!

The whole building is gorgeous, the artwork is incredible and it is a great museum to be able to take in, in just a few hours. My sister and her husband visited Paris a few years ago and she had suggested downloading some of Rick Steve's audio tours/pod casts. I did, and am so glad for it. I listened to one podcast here at the Orsay where it touched on all of the main pieces but still gave you plenty of time to enjoy the space on its own.

It is an incredible feeling being in the presence of a piece of art that you have looked at in books, on tv , in movies , on the computer for your entire life. One of the pieces kept at the Orsay is Degas's The Dance Class. My sister had a poster of it in her room for years- I can't tell you how many times I saw it, and there it was right in front of me. Even more incredible than you can imagine.

The Dance Class by Edgar Degas

 We ate dinner in the Orsay that night- they stay open late on Thursdays (check before you visit- this might change). And I would recommend buying tickets online ahead of time.

Overall Day 1 was a win! 

Work at Its Finest

After the luggage fiasco (if you missed the story check it out here!) our Spain portion of the trip turned into a much more pleasant one.

Vacationing with work, especially when at a beach resort, means really just sitting by the pool and beach. Sounds awful, right? I find it a bit odd that they feel the need to trek to Europe to do the same thing we can do in Florida but it doesn't make for a nice change of scenery and you get to meet some fun Europeans.

Spanish kitty!

The rest of Spain consisted of pool lounging, sand-castle building and a trip to see some crazy yachts. We don't do sight-seeing in Spain, but we do eat in the nearby towns which meant going to Marbella, Puerto Banus and a cute little town called Benahavis.

 

pool lounging at it's finest

sand castle builder

 

funny enough I took the same picture last year, at the same restaurant.. this years was not as good

2013's version

a birthday present for me? you shouldn't have..

 

 

weird stuffed horse in Benahavis restaurant

Work did forget my birthday which sucked- a lot, not the best way to celebrate- that is for sure. They did make it up (after I had to remind them it was in fact my birthday) by taking me to a lovely traditional Spanish Paella restaurant where I think I had the best food of the entire trip. It certainly had the most delicious sangria I have ever tasted.

birthday date

birthday flowers and wine from the hotel- they remembered!

Spain was lovely- just as it was last year. We stayed at the sister resort of our place from last year (Marriott's apartments/hotel). The weather was perfection. I definitely would love to go back someday and see some of the local sites as well as other cities.

this was the "I don't want to get up! oh wait there is a camera- cheese!"

Now on to Paris!
 

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work We Go..

Yep- it's Monday and my week off has officially come to an end. Boo! I am actually excited to see the kids, because yes I did miss them- but I am also missing the relaxing vacation I was participating in down in Florida.

 After a wonderful time at Harry Potter World I drove over to the Tampa area to visit with my Dad's family. His parents, siblings, and all of my cousins are there. I spent some time hanging out with all of them which was super nice because most I hadn't seen in quite some time. Tuesday I mostly sat around at my Uncle's place with my little cousin (who is almost 5!) and my aunt. We played in the pool, enjoyed many Angry Orchard ciders and just relaxed! That's what vacation is for!!

On Wednesday we got up early and took my Uncle's boat out to do some fishing. But in their typical fashion we got out later than we wanted too, became distracted by some abandoned crab traps and didn't get as much fishing in as we could have. I caught lots of bait fish but didn't really have time to catch anything better. Next time, next time.

I headed back to Orlando that afternoon to pick up my friend from work and then I went on my first blate! I was super excited to have the opportunity to meet both Kate from Green Fashionista and Emily from Martinis and Bikinis. They both work in my old neighborhood so we met up at a great little wine bar called, The Wine Room, and chatted for awhile. It was my first time meeting other bloggers face to face and it was super fun! Can't wait to meet some more of you in the future...

delicious cheese plate we had

Thursday was super chill- I went and had breakfast with my dad, shopped around at the mall with my friend and got pedicures. Thursday night I just relaxed and watched a movie.

 As Friday was the fourth (Happy 'Merica Day! ) my friend, her fiance and myself headed to a pool party my brother-in-laws family was hosting. We enjoyed the sun, the food, the drinks and the company (my super adorable nephew included!) Friday night we headed back to their place and watched Disney, Universals and some nearby lake parties fireworks on the balcony. Beautiful as always.

Then on Saturday I did something I have never done before. Before I get into this adventure I want to let you all know that I have family members that work for Disney and I always get tickets from them. We had always planned to go to Disney on Saturday but until Friday evening I was under the assumption that the ticket I possessed was blacked-out from the Magic Kingdom, meaning I could go to the other 3 parks but would be unable to see the new fantasyland and try the new snow white ride. News flash when all of a sudden I am told Friday evening that I am actually able to go to Magic Kingdom. This changed our entire plans.

So we woke up super early (my friend L, her fiance and myself) and decided that we were going to get to Magic Kingdom before it opened and be one of the first people into the park. I have literally in my entire life never done this before. We watched the opening ceremony, and walked through the entire park (with a large crowd behind us) without anyone in front of us. The place was empty! After the mad dash to the new Snow White ride, The Mine Train, we were one of the first 20 people on it for the day. By the time we got off the ride, which was super cute but very short, the wait for the ride was already at 60 minutes!! Crazy- I know. After that we walked on to almost every other ride we wanted to do, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear. All favorites of mine.

We wandered over to MGM (or Hollywood Studios these days) played the new Toy Story Mania and then just kind of hung out. We ate lunch (or funch - fun lunch) at the 50's Primetime Cafe, attempted to watch the Indiana Jones show before it got rained out and bought some cute stuffed Olaf's for my munchkins.

After that I went to the airport and flew back to good ole' NYC. Sadie and Phoenix were ridiculously excited to see me- which mostly means they harassed me all night and Sunday.

Phew- it was a great trip, but I'm happy to be home, not so happy to be working... Hope everyone had a great fourth!!
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